Legacy of the Crystal Gauntlet
by RayGallade and Luigicario
Summary: Welcome to the land of Amiru Sakayo. Here, many artifacts make their home. This is the tale of the recovery of such an artifact. Based on a curent campaign. Update plan: once a month.
1. Prolouge 1: Dirk Granite

_This fic was born from the first 4th Edition D&D campaign I played. As of the time that this will be posted, it will still be going on. I hope you will enjoy it_

**Disclaimer: I do not own D&D, apart from a few books.**

** Dirkʼs Journal**

Day 1: I'm not sure why I have decided to keep this journal since I have no one to give it to. Maybe it is so that if I die out here some one might find it and I can live on in these pages, if that be the case then I better explain a little about myself. My name is Dirk Granite and I am a Goliath. Now that is not my true name, but since so few people actually speak Giant I took that human name long ago. I left my home troop about 17 years ago, which means that I am currently somewhere between 35 and 41 years old, not to sure about that. I should have started keeping this journal as soon as I left, how was I to know that I would be gone so long. Why did I leave my troop? Sometimes I wonder about that. All I know is that if I stay in one place to long I start to get that old wander lust. So I guess I just got tired of seeing the same old mountains day after day and fighting the same old enemies year after year.

Day 2: As you can tell I am a fighter by trade, and by nature I guess. Seems like I've been doing that I my life. Since I was the runt of the troop growing up I always had to prove myself, which means fighting for every slight or insult. What do I mean by runt? Since you are probably just looking at my bones right now and you are not that familiar with my race. Well, at just a tiny hair over 7ʻ, standard measure, and not growing into my full weight until well after I left home, I was the runt ok? Sorry, I'm a little touchy about my height. My dad was almost 8ʼ tall and a burly 350 pounds, and Ma wasn't that far behind him in height or weight. They had such high hopes for me, I was sorry to disappoint them. Maybe that is why I left and why I can't seem to stay in one place very long. Oh well. Well, as I said, I spent my younger years fighting over every slight, and as soon as the troop would let me pick up something other than a practice sword began fighting to protect the troop. By the time I left home I was pretty good with just about any weapon.

Day ?: I'm not sure how many days it has been I wrote that last entry, so from here on out I won't bother to put down what day it is. Like I said, when I left home I was pretty decent with just about any weapon and I've done nothing but improve my skills since I left home. When I left the troop I joined a band of mercenaries, boy what a bunch of cut throats those guys were. I think I was with them for 18 months or so. Bouncing from one minor conflict to another. Not to much different from home, but they pay was better. Why did I leave them then? Well, I got into a dispute with the commander, over my pay. What can I say, I was risking my butt every time we went into battle and that guy did was sit back and look on. For that he took 50% of the commission. I'm not too sorry that I killed him, but I am sorry that some of the other guys got in the way. Rickard shouldn't have set Grog and Newt on me during our argument. Of course if he didn't do that he might still be alive. I have served under other Warlords since then, and you know what Rickard wasn't that good to begin with.

My thoughts on Warlords? Well, I can tell you one thing, it is not a job that I'm cut out for. To much stress. I mean you are the one that is responsible for the whole group. It is up to you to make sure all of make it through alive, and then you also are the one that has to make sure that everyone gets paid. I've tried it once or twice, just not my cup of mead. I've served under good ones and bad ones. For a truly good Warlord, I would willing risk life and limb because the chances are pretty good that you will make it back alive and with coin in your pocket. The bad ones? They don't last too long. If they don't get killed in battle, then they tend to get knocked off by their own group. I know that I wrote about Rickard, but he isn't the only one that I've been involved in the demise of, just the first.

How did I get out of the mercenary business? Couldn't stand not knowing who the good guys were. I mean when you are a mercenary the only good guys are your own company, everyone else is the bad guy. But how do you justify fighting for a bad guy in a bad cause for money? To much philosophy. All I know is that when you are just an adventurer it sure is easier to live with your conscious. Find a quest, or kill some monsters get the gold. Pretty easy. Although it can get pretty far in between adventures. Good thing I don't feel a burning need to be wealthy. Just got to make sure that I'm well equipped and well supplied. Good weapons, armor and food. Although a bed would be nice. Hope I get to the next town soon. I'm starting to get a little lonely and foraging for my own supper is starting to wear on me.

What good is gold in my purse if I got to spend half my day hunting rabbits?

Well, it is time to get philosophical again. Looking at my last entry makes almost makes me want to cry. Now I don't have near as much gold to worry about. At least those bandits left me with my life, if nothing else. Well they did leave me with my writing equipment. Guess they thought it was kind of funny that a Goliath would feel that way about a bunch of paper and ink. I'm just glad they didn't realize just how short I really am, then they might have checked my boots. Down to my last 100 gold pieces. At least when I get to town I might be able to resupply. If I ever find those bandits again, they better be prepared to die. I'm getting tired of berries and my improvised sling doesn't work so well. Finally, I can see the glow of some kind of civilization over on the horizon. Wonder what town it is? Oh well, I'll find out tomorrow.

* * *

_As the chapter suggests, this is the backstory of one of the party members. This one is the (not so) lovable party Fighter, Dirk Granite. The next three chapters will also be backstory and character introductions, so I hope you will bear with me. Once they're done, we go straight into the action._


	2. Prolouge 2: Wella Goodwine

**The Tale of Wella Goodwine**

Wella Goodwine, a young and daring and also quite beautiful Halfling, stared up at the sky, inhaling the coastal moisture from the sea around her. Though not the strongest of swimmers, she loved to sit upon her favorite rock by the beach and just look up at the constellations above. Having grown up with loving parents who gave her plenty of freedom and five siblings, Wella had had an easy life up to this point. The freedom that her parents gave her made it so that she was often outside and in the market, where there was quite the collection of people, mostly taller people.

She loved visiting the market since she and her many siblings had a little game they had played ever since they were younger. They called it "Pickpocket," and that was all it was. They would take turns putting various small things in their pockets and then seeing if the others could get it out secretly. Out of all her siblings, Wella was the best at it, becoming the _de facto _leader of their little gang, even though she was among the younger bunch. With the training that she got from playing the game, Wella could easily help herself to unsuspecting market-goers' wallets, only ever taking a few coins out of each. She could easily make enough money from this to buy herself and her siblings treats every day or two. Despite this, she knew better than to let her parents know, for fear that if they found out, they might not be as happy anymore.

Also, she knew how to not let herself be seen. As current champion of her town's annual Hide-And-Seek contest, she had never had much trouble avoiding the searching eyes of the town seeker, an older Elven gentleman who could run as fast as the wind could blow. With the talents she honed from the contest and her natural skills, Wella learned how quickly hide from almost anyone and sneak up on them. She used this skill to great effect in scaring a big, nasty bully in the town by sneaking up on him, and then sending him running straight into a nest of Yellow Jackets. After several similar incidents, he stopped bullying her and her siblings.

All that was in the past, however. Getting up from her rock, Wella walked over to the boat that had just docked. She had permission from her parents to leave home now and had packed her belongings the night before. Although she hadn't bought a ticket for the boat, she knew she could sneak aboard. Picking up her bag, she ran to the dock and started mingling with the crowd of passengers leaving the boat before she went over to the guard watching the gangplank and told him that she had left her sword on the boat. She managed to convince the guard of that and used the distraction to go under to the cattle storage. As she hid herself in the hay, Wella sighed, knowing this would be a long trip.

* * *

_Our second character introduction stars Wella Goodwine, our always happy, joyful, and quick-fingered Rouge friend. She usually gives off a perpetual feeling of happiness, and is a great exaggerator. Strangely enough, she's also capable of being quite the intimidating little brute. She has been noted to be rather clumsy in taverns and inns, tripping and stumbling past many tables where there are open pockets.._


	3. Prolouge 3: Keira

**A Proud Daughter: Keira**

In a small tavern from a small town on a small island, two travelers sat at the table in the back corner, hoods upon their heads. They desired that they would not be noticed, and were trading their tales with each other. If one were to walk by, he would notice no sound escaping from that table, due to the effects of a Silence ritual having been performed around the table. However, if he were to enter into there and sit down, then he would hear some interesting tales, so long as he understood the speech of the Elves.

"So, enough about me and my misadventures," the first one was saying in Elvish. "Tell me, Lodran, what about you and your family. What have you been up to and how is your family?"

Glancing up, Lodran said, also in Elvish, "Ah, , I would have thought that you of all elves would know that I am retired. I've hardly done much of anything but listen to humans and elves and all sorts of beings bicker and bring their cases before me. Running this region is much harder work that leading an adventuring party."

took a sip from his ale before mentioning, "Retired so young, Lodran? You are hardly much older than I am, not even two hundred, and yet you have given up the only life you knew?"

"Ah, but raising a family takes much of my time," Lodran replied after he drained the last of his ale. "When you have three Half-Elven children and are running a region, you have no time for adventure. I still am a capable Warlord, I just have little time for battles. Though I lead a human and elven joint community, few people desire to joust, and not enough people even know how to anymore. The only battles I have wagged recently have been driving off goblins and orcs."

Sighing, said, "Well, that's too bad. But anyways, how is the misses? How are the children?"

"Well, Terrine has been doing well. Humans can be strange beings to live with, though, what with all their different customs and the like. She spends most of her time away from court and with the children, which I believe is a fine example of motherly care. I am rather concerned though about the elder two, Adran and Gundran. Terrine is not able to keep on top of everything, and I worry about how they will turn out. Without my presence in their daily lives, I fear that neither of them will know how to live a life in court, how to run a family, or even just how to behave. I've heard tales that they may have been turning into bullies, but it can't be proven.

"The youngest, my daughter, Keira, is rather feisty, and enjoys the outdoors. I've been told that she takes after me in personality from when I was around her stage of development. She's always looking for adventure and the chance to explore, much like her brothers, something I think highly of. From what Terrine has told me, apparently her brothers and she tend to explore a forest a couple miles away. They camp, they play, and other things like that. I wish that I could escape my duties longer that usual, even just for a week or two, just to spend time with the family. As is, I just can't head home much and only know what I do from Terrine's visits to me. My children are old enough now that Terrine is able to leave them at the home and visit me much more that she used to, so I can know more than I used to, but I still think I don't see her or the children enough."

took the chance to mention, "Well, maybe one day, they'll come to visit you, like your wife does. Who knows, maybe they'll come to make you proud."

"I hope so," Lodran said, ordering another ale before continuing, "From what Terrine tells me, I've heard that Adran is definitely following in my footsteps, being a charismatic leader, and fairly smart too. Gundran is, well, he takes more after his mother, more like a follower, not certain of what he wants to do. He apparently does whatever Adran tells him to, almost like he needs his brother. Keira, well, Keira takes after me, much like Adran, but I've heard that her brothers (mostly Adran) don't really like her tagging along or something like that. They don't really want their baby sister tagging along.

"Well, I've finished my second ale and I'll need to head out now. Can't leave my court wizard disguised as me forever, so I'll just say goodbye and head back to court. Thanks for the drinks, friend," Lodran said, standing up.

"Farewell, friend," replied, walking his lifelong buddy to the door. As Lodran climbed onto his horse, looked to him and said, "If you ever tire of politics, you know where to find me."

* * *

While Lodran and were talking, Adran, Gundran, and Keira were out camping in the woods. All was well, until Adran and Keira disagreed about where to camp for the night. It was a rather silly thing to argue about, all that it was was Keira thought it would be best to sleep next to a river, whereas Adran wanted to use a cave that he had found and aptly named "Adran's Cave" It started small, but slowly became more heated as Adran started saying some harsh, nasty, and mean words to Keira, telling her that she was worthless, that she wasn't any good, that she would never be like their father, that Lodran didn't even care about her, that she should be at home, picking out a dress to go to a ball in instead of being out in the woods with her brothers, and if she even thought that her father would ever take her on an adventure, she was be sorely mistaken.

Deeply hurt by her brother's words, Keira's eyes burned with anger and ran home. Terrine wasn't home at the time, so all she did was pack everything she had, take her brother's chain mail and flail, grab some food, and leave. By the time it was morning and her brothers got home, Keira was on a boat, headed for the island Sangkon. Adran and Gundran were shocked when they realized that Keira had run away and that they would have to explain this somehow to their mother. Adran told his brother that they should just feign ignorance about her disappearance, though secretly, he harbored a grudge due to the theft of his weapon and armor.

While on that boat, Keira met someone who would soon become one of her closest friends, Wella Goodwine.

* * *

_The third backstory chapter, this time, we learn about Keira, the secretive party leader. Since she doesn't care to reveal her background, we must look into her family to find out her history. She spends most of her time with her best friend, Wella._


	4. Prolouge 4: Erevan Soveliss

**A personal monologue, Erevan Soveliss**

"Well, today's the day," Erevan said to a recording crystal, packing up some of his stuff. "I can hardly believe that Master Kriv (why does he even demand that we pronounce is K-irv?) has given me my graduation test. Seems almost yesterday that I was four and my parents gave me to Master Kriv for apprenticeship. And here I am, the last student of the great Dragonborn Archmage Kriv, close to graduating.

"I wonder how Valna is doing in the world. She graduated about two years ago, and now, we haven't heard much from her. Sometimes, I wish she were still here, since now I'm alone with Master Kriv. Sure, he has more time to teach me, but it gets rather lonely. I mean, Master Kriv's familiar, Merkur, may talk to me sometimes, but he's nowhere as fun as Valna was. Master Kriv doesn't really let us out of the tower much, only once every two weeks, so my only real friend was Valna.

"Still, even with no one to talk to, at least the tower itself is interesting. Master Kriv's extremely paranoid. So much, that every access point to outside is trapped, as are all the doors leading to his vaults, the vaults themselves, the door to his lab, and all the bedroom doors and closets are trapped as well. He even traps random places, like the rug by the front door, the fourth, seventh, and eighth steps on the first staircase, and the doorbell. He also trapped the door to the library, which is right next to the tower. That one is special, though. It has a small set of panels that, if pressed in the right order, will deactivate the trap on the door. Of course, Master Kriv keeps changing the combination on us, which rather annoys the librarian.

"Well, at least once I have to leave, I'll be able to protect myself. Though I'm nowhere near very good at fighting, I have trained in how to use a sword and the proper use of leather armor. I still am not going to be front line material, but if someone breaks through, I can take him on. I'm all self-taught in non-wizardly combat, so I probably look silly, but hey, if my enemy laughs, he won't ever laugh again if I have my way.

"Let's see, I've always had a preference for the old fashioned wizard's staff and my ole trusty Ray of Frost. It's nice and dependable, and rarely fails me in the tests Master Kriv has given me. I also trust the old wizard standby, Magic Missile. After all, it's been used consistently by so many wizards over the eons that it must be safe and useful. My master has also taught me how to form and cast Force Orbs. It's a neat spell, but almost every time I cast it, I completely miss my target. I have more luck casting Sleep or Acid Arrow, since somehow I hit with those more often than Force Orb.

"Oh, I should tell you what my test is. Master Kriv wants me to find a book, written in an old language, and bring it back to him. I can tell that it is much older than any sort of language in use today, as Master Kriv doesn't even know the language, and he speaks every known one. I hope I'm up to the task and can impress Master Kriv. I'll want to stop by the blacksmith before I go, to pick up some new leather and a new staff, maybe even a dagger. You know, I wonder what sort of people I'll meet on this journey, and I also wonder what they will think of me. Personally, I'd really like to run into Valna again, and maybe find out why she doesn't contact us anymore and how she's been.

"This is Erevan Soveliss, ending my first recording," Erevan finished, using his magic to deactivate the crystal and grabbing his stuff.

* * *

_The fourth and final character, Erevan Soveliss. Our uncertain, not the most sure of himself Eladrin Wizard. Having not really ever gotten out and about, he is very uncomfortable speaking with new people. However, in battle, his spells and rituals have made quite the difference. He also has strange luck with dice, getting critical hits, misses, success, and failures right next to each other often._

_Well, I hoped you liked this character backstories and introductions. Now that these are all done, the next chapter is the start of an adventure._


	5. Chapter 1: A New Adventure

_Welcome to the first official chapter. I hope I didn't scare you all off with the first four chapters. Anyways, I hope you enjoy._

* * *

Erevan left Kriv's tower, headed for the blacksmith's shop. His plan was to pick up some new equipment with the gold his master had given him. Since he knew his way around town, he found it very easy to get to the blacksmith. Looking around, he entered the shop, already planing how to spend his gold.

When Erevan entered, he noticed that the smith had a customer, a Goliath. Rare, it was, for the town of Splithen to receive visitors, being this far south and with no port. Usually, they stuck around the port city of Mivatar rather than travel south along the island to Splithen. He decided to wait and watch as the exchange went through.

"I want a sword, a good longsword. It has to be built to my size. I'll need a long bow and ninety arrows for it. A suit of scale mail, and a light shield. An adventurer's kit too. Got all that?" the Goliath said.

"Yeah, I've got it all. That'll be ninety gold pieces, please." the smith replied, counting up the value and bringing out each item.

"Tell you what. How about you handle that Eladrin over there while I count my gold."

"Fine by me. Oh, Erevan. Good to see you. Does your master need anything?"

Erevan smiled to himself and said, "Not today, sir. I'm here on my own business. Could I get a suit of leather, a new staff, a dagger, some components for rituals, and one of your standard issue adventurer kits please?"

"Sure, Erevan. That'll be forty-three gold piece, okay?" the smith said as he gathered the requested items up for the wizard.

"Here you go," Erevan said, exchanging the gold for the new equipment.

"A pleasure as always. Now, good sir. Are you ready to pay?" the smith asked.

"Well, Mr. Smith. I think you're charging a bit much for all this," the Goliath growled, bending closer and narrowing his eyes. "I think you're cheating me of twenty gold. Now, I'd suggest you lower the price twenty. If you do, I promise you that I'll, help you keep busy. If you don't accept my offer, you might not get as many customers."

The smith was not used to customers acting this way and gave a few small complaints, but quickly caved to the threats, "O-okay. I-I'll give you the, the discount," he said, visibly shaken.

"A pleasure doing business with you sir. You made a good choice. If I see anyone around, you be sure, Dirk Granite will point them your way." the Goliath said.

He walked over to Erevan and thumped him on the shoulder, saying, "That, young fellow, is how you do business. So, what're you planing on doing? What's your name?"

Erevan wasn't certain of how to respond. This Goliath had just been rather intimidating and now was acting all friendly to him. Since he didn't get out very often, he wasn't certain of how to reply, so he went for safe, "I-I'm Erevan. My, my master sent me to, to go get him a book from out of town."

"Really? Need a Fighter to keep any bad guys off your back? Of course, I will want a share of the gold and glory." Dirk said, thinking of what he might get from this.

"I'd, I'd appreciate it." Erevan said, still uncertain.

"Great! Let's go have a drink. Know where a good tavern is?" Dirk replied.

"We, well, the only tavern in town is The Old Cup," Erevan told the Goliath.

"Take me there. You're paying for the drinks, right?"

"Oh, okay."

The odd looking pair set out from the blacksmith and wandered towards the tavern. In the time going there, Erevan tried to figure out where exactly he would be going. Master Kriv had neglected to give him that information. He would have to stop back at the tower before leaving. Hopefully, Master Kriv had at least some idea of where this odd book was.

Entering the tavern, Erevan and Dirk saw two different things. From Erevan's point of view, he saw a bunch of drunks, singing loudly and shouting at each other. The smell of alcohol was strong in the air and offended his sensitive nostrils. He had never spent much time in the tavern, and for good reason too. Unlike many, Erevan never had seen much use for strong drunk, he preferred just a little wine possibly once every month or so.

Dirk, however, saw the comforts of a tavern. He smelt the good food and the drink and saw all the pretty ladies. The various songs (all off key, but Dirk was tone deaf, so he didn't care) were familiar to him, and thus, he looked forward to singing along. He searched the corners and saw that the table in the back, left corner was unoccupied. Waving Erevan over, he lead the young wizard over to the table, telling him, "Some advice, son. Always sit in the corner. Always. That way, no one can sneak up on you."

On his way to the table, Dirk noticed two young women sitting at a nearby table, a Halfling and what appeared to be an Elf maiden.

He turned to Erevan and said, "Say, little guy. See that little woman? I'd bet she would be perfect for you. Of course, the Elf would be for me."

Erevan grunted at the giant, he was not in any way comfortable in the tavern. The odd pair took their seats and Dirk waved over the two women.

"Hello, hello there, big guy. I'm Wella Goodwine, entertainer deluxe and loveable rouge," the Halfling told Dirk, all smiles. "This here is by pal Keira."

"Well met, Wella. I'm Dirk Granite. The little wizard here is Ed something and..."

"Uh, n-no, my name's Erevan."

"Whatever. He's hired me to help him find this book or something. What do you say, want to come along and bring your friend? We could always use pretty faces" Dirk continued after the interruption.

"Sure, we'd love to. Keira here is a Warlord, so she would be the leader, right?"

"Got no problem with that, and I'm fairly certain Erevan won't either, right, Erevan?" Dirk said.

"Uh, yeah, yeah, sure."

Dirk then waved over a waiter, asking him for four ales. In the meantime, he asked, "So, where do you two hail from?"

Wella piped up, "I've been from all kinds of places. Used to live in a small coastal town, then stowed away on some ship that passed by. There I met Keira here, and we had all sort of fun talking about our lives. Then we landed on this island and came here."

Keira then spoke, "I used to go on 'adventures' with my two older brothers. I left home cause they were rather mean and bullies. Of course, the fact that my father never really even took the time to even see me ever didn't help. So, I stole my brother's armor and weapon and left on a ship that was leaving the city." While Keira was speaking, the waiter returned with the ales. Everyone but Erevan started to enjoy the beverage. Due to the fact that he didn't like ale, Erevan pretended to drink his ale, planing to dump it into a nearby potted plant the first chance he got.

Once they had finished their ales, Wella offered, "Say, how about I compensate for the price? It'll just take me a few seconds." With that, she set to work, tripping here, stumbling and catching herself on the person there, and acting a bit drunk as well so that no one would suspect a thing. She soon came up with the necessary gold to pay for the drinks, and put a little extra into her own pocket book.

Meeting with the other three outside the tavern, she told them, "All done. Here's the gold for the ales, good sir," handing Dirk two gold pieces.

"Thank you very much. I don't mind it when people like you help themselves to whatever is in someone else's pockets, but you had better stay out of mine, or else." Dirk warned.

"Oh, don't worry, good sir. I would never think the try to take anything from your pockets. We're working together. Now, if we weren't working together, I might have, borrowed a few pieces for a little while." Wella said in an incredulous tone.

"Help! Help! Help!" a voice cried out.

Looking around, Keira asked, "Did you hear something?"

"Of course not, that was probably your imagination," Dirk said.

"Somebody! Please help! I can pay you for your troubles!"

"Actually, I do believe that you did hear something, Keira," Dirk added.

The quartet walked towards the voice that kept begging for help, coming to one of the two housing complexes. They found what appeared to be a local fisherman looking around wildly while calling out and announcing his desire for help. Seeing the four, he asked, "Are you here to help me?"

Dirk told him, "That depends on what you need our help for."

"Some wolves broke into my fish warehouse and are tearing up the place. Please, that's my livelihood that's getting destroyed. I'll pay you if you kill the wolves and make sure my stores are safe."

"Hm, how much?"

"Does, fifty gold each sound good? It's all I can afford right now."

"Let me talk it over with my associates first." Dirk said.

Huddling up, Dirk mentioned, "I bet we could hold out for more, find out just how desperate this man is."

Keira quickly shot that idea down with a, "No! That would be cruel to him. Why should we be willing to let him rot? Let's just agree to the fifty gold each deal."

"Fine."

This time, Keira spoke to the man, "Alright, we'll get rid of your wolf problem for fifty gold each. Just point us to where it is and we'll get to work."

"Oh, thank you young Elf." the man said. "It's over there in the industrial complex. First warehouse on the right."

"Actually, I'm a Half-Elf. And thanks for the direction." Keira said, setting off for the industrial complex. She called the other three over and gave them the directions also.

"You're a Half-Elf?" Dirk asked, surprised.

"Yeah, is that so surprising?" Keira replied.

"Well, you never hear of Half-Dwarfs or Half-Gnomes. Why should Elves be any different?"

"I, I don't know and don't really care either." Keira said, a bit put off.

Entering the industrial complex, it was obvious that this area was much different from the residential area that Erevan had lived in and that the other three had only seen. He buildings were much closer together, so much that it was difficult to tell if they were individual buildings or just a single building on each side. Fortunately for the group, the warehouse was not that far in, and it was obvious that it was their target because of the howling and barking that was coming from it. The stench of fish filled the air.

"So, Erevan. Why is guy's livelihood just this fish supply?" Dirk asked.

Erevan responded with question of his own, "Well, you know that waterfall you probably saw on your way into town?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, we get this unique salmon that spawns in our waterfall lake. Some sort of rainbow salmon that the people of Mivatar and the cities from on the other islands can seem to get enough of. Wolves getting into even one of the storehouses could lead to bankruptcy for the fisherman who owns them."

"Uh... what?"

Shaking his head, Erevan put it in a much shorter statement.

"It means that he can't loose the fish, or he looses all his earnings."

The party had now found a window into the warehouse. Keira was the one who had the best view and saw four wolves pigging out on the fish. With two other close by window, she determined that they could have Wella and one other person at one window, and then one person at each other window. Then, they could shoot arrows, sling stones, or in Erevan's case, launch magic through his own window.

Telling the others her plan, it was decided that Wella would be with her, Dirk would be in the middle, and Erevan would take the very right side. The team took up their positions and prepared to attack. The wolves were yet to acknowledge their presence, still engrossed in their feast of fish. Now with a stone in her sling, Wella couldn't wait to attack any longer and whirled her sling around. Around, and around it went, and she quickly launched the stone at the nearest wolf. The stone flew through the open window towards the wolf and crashed into its head. Yelping in pain, the wolf backed away from the fish that it had been eating. His yelp alerted the other wolves that there was something painful nearby, and thus, they abandoned their meal and prepared to attack. Two of the wolves scurried towards the windows and tried to leap through them, but the windows were so small, they couldn't get through and instead got stuck.

Right about when the wolves got stuck in the windows, chaos set in. The wolves were scrambling around inside the warehouse, making all sorts of a mess, while Keira and Wella slung stones at the wolf that was stuck in their window. Dirk was slashing at the wolf caught in his window, using his new sword. His wolf was trying to bite him, but with little effect, as Dirk made sure to keep his hand out of reach. Erevan, the only one without a wolf stuck in front of him, was casting spells at a nearby wolf, slowing it down with Ray of Frost. Taking a break from the easy spell, he began to chant, preparing to unleash an Acid Arrow upon the wolf he had been targeting, which was close enough to Dirk's that he could catch it in the spell as well. However, when he finished the chant, his spell missed the main area of target, and instead just struck the wolf's paw. Still, the acid had managed to enter its system, and thus began to flow freely through its veins.

Dirk's wolf was the first to die. With a final stab to the head, Dirk penetrated the wolf's skull, slaying the beast rather messily. He then pushed the dead dog into the warehouse so that he could see inside. A little ways off, he could see a sick looking wolf scratching at the old door. It was trying to open an escape route to run off, but died of the acid burns that Erevan's spell had caused before it got through. With two wolves left, he dropped his sword on the ground and strung his bow.

Meanwhile, Keira and Wella were still slinging away at their wolf, which was still trapped and kept yelping with each rock that hit its head. The poor thing fell the assault, giving a final yelp of pain before falling still. The one remaining wolf did not last either, dying to a barrage of arrows, rocks, and magic.

"That's the last of them," Keira noted.

"Good. Stay out of my way for this," Dirk said, walking over to the door. He slammed into it, easily breaking it down. "Get me the caresses. Wolf's good eat'n, and their pelts are easy gold."

Thus, the Goliath began his rather routine corpse cleaning. Though these wolves had no gold or equipment (for obvious reasons), they still could be skinned and used for meat. While he was doing that, the other three looked around the warehouse, trying to figure out how the wolves got in. They quickly found themselves a small tunnel underneath a heavy box that had been clawed at by the wolves repeatedly. Lifting the box, they could see that the tunnel had been made for something about Halfling size. Clearly, this had been how the wolves had gotten in.

Once that was over, Keira and company set out for the man. Finding him just a short ways off, she told him, "Your troublesome wolves are dead. Though, they seemed rather hard to kill for such typical animals. Was that why you offered fifty gold each?"

"Yes! Don't you know, wolves are among the most deadly natural animals on this island. Natural, as in, that can't talk."

"Really? Well then, our two hundred gold please."

The man counted out the gold pieces and handed each person fifty gold. He then said, "If I might ask, how did the wolves get in?"

"They came through some sort of tunnel system, dug by by Halflings or something that size," Wella said.

"What? You mean I built my warehouse over one of the goblin invasion tunnels? I thought that those were all collapsed after the invasion."

"The goblin invasion of 1532 A.S.R.? That was thirty-six years ago." Erevan said.

The man nodded, before saying, "Anyways, I have another job that I need help with. If you would be willing, my associate can pay you for your troubles."

"What's the job?" Wella asked.

"Well, I need someone to take my next shipment to Mivatar. Problem is, the Woodlands of Underwater Doom have been slightly more, well, dangerous. And the Shark's Jaw range has been infested by all sorts of troublemakers, mainly lots of bandits. So, since you four seem capable, I would appreciate it if you were willing to take my shipment to Mivatar for me. My associate will pay fifty gold to each of you if you agree."

"Sounds good to me," Keira said, looking forward to more adventure.

"Maybe it'll lead us to the book that I need to find," Erevan hopefully said.

"Easy money," Wella said, thinking about, what else, the money.

"Fine. I'll do it," Dirk grumpily said. He had been hoping to hold out for a better payment.

"Great. I'd really like it if you all could set out tomorrow morning. After all, I'll need some time to gather the shipment up," the man said.

Agreeing to gather at the north gate tomorrow morning, the party of four left the man and wandered off. Dirk asked Erevan, "Hey, Will. How abo.."

"It's Erevan," Erevan growled.

"you make us a fire with that magic of yours so we can cook some of this wolf?"

"Fire," Erevan said. "But I'll need wood and a place to safely make the fire. You can find the wood, Dirk."

Dirk easily found some wood, the broken down door of the warehouse. Fortunately for him, the man was not yet back, so his theft of the wood went unchallenged. It took him a while to get back, but he managed to find the group.

"Here," he said, depositing the wood into a circle of stones.

Erevan then just raised his finger, and suddenly, fire burst forth from the wood! "It will only be in existence for an hour, so get cooking."

Dirk thought to himself that it was good the flames were already hot enough to cook with from conjuration, otherwise, the fire would have gone out before his wolf recipe was finished. "Unless one of you has spices or seasonings, the food will be rather, well, simple. But wolf's good eat'n."

If anything, the party was thankful that this would sustain them for now, without having had to pay for the food at the tavern, something Erevan was especially thankful for.

"So, Erevan. What's this quest that we're helping you on?" Keira asked.

"Well, uh, my master wants me to find him a specific book, but, uh, I don't really, uh, know where it is," Erevan said, not sure of himself.

"Have you tried the library?" Wella asked, laughing.

"No, it's, uh, a book my master doesn't have," Erevan explained.

"What's its name?" Keira asked.

"I, uh, can't read the, uh, language that the title is, uh, written in," Erevan stammered.

"So let me get this straight. We're looking for a book, a book you don't know the name of. A book that your master has not even told you where it can be found. A book that for all we know, doesn't exist. A book that we know next to nothing about," Wella asked incredulously.

"W-well I've got a sketch of the cover here," Erevan said, pulling out piece of paper. On it, there was a drawing of some odd looking runes. Some letters were Elvish, some looked Dwarfish, others were odd pictograms or similar runes. The letters had three lines, and were completely indecipherable to everyone.

"At least we'll recognize the book when we see it," Wella said.

"Yeah..." Erevan sighed.

"Say, how about we go to see your master, Erevan. Maybe he can tell us some more about our strange book," Keira suggested.

"Um, okay. It's the tower with the small building next to it," Erevan said.

"Kind of hard to miss," Dirk said.

The four adventurers set off for the tower, noting the shear size of it. From the top of it, one could probably see for miles. Erevan had always loved watching Kriv practice spells up there and he himself had cast some minor spells from up there.

When they reached the front door, Erevan pointed out the doorbell and turned away as Dirk reached up to press it. Once turned away, he closed his eyes to avoid the blinding flash of light that came from the doorbell. Dirk and the others were blinded by the light. Kriv came to the door, brandishing his staff in Dirk's blind face, asking gruffly, "Who's there? Answer, or I'll blow you up and raise you to get the answer!"

"Master Kriv! It's Erevan. These people are my companions. We were wondering if you could give us some answers," Erevan quickly asked, hoping to not have dead companions.

"Erevan? I thought you had left. How do I know you're Erevan?" Kriv asked.

"I can tell you the password to open the library without the trap activating," Erevan said. "Oh, and the password to my room's door trap."

"Fine, if you are Erevan, cast a Ghost Sound whispering to me the passwords," Kriv said.

Wiggling his finger, Erevan cast his spell at the older wizard. In Kriv's ear, he heard the two passwords whispered to him.

"Fine, you probably are Erevan. But, one false, non-Erevan like move, and I'll stun you just like that," Kriv grumbled.

The four junior adventurers entered Kriv's tower, and Dirk promptly triggered the rug by the front door. The rug pulled out from under him and landed on his head. Dirk grumbled and pulled the rug out, stood up, and kept walking forward, only to stumble over the forth stair, getting launched down the stairs by some arcane force that knocked him onto his back, on top of the already triggered rug.

"What's up with this tower? Why am I getting attacked?" he asked rather angrily to the Archmage. He could not stand up on his own.

Kriv turned and said mirthfully, "I just trap the tower in case any thieves try to take my valuable items. Never touch my vaults, those traps are deadly. These ones are just to slow down the escapees."

"Yeah, he even trapped my bedroom door and window," Erevan added.

Dirk grumbled about stupid wizards and their idiotic traps and how much he would love to crush the ones that annoyed him.

"So anyways, Mister Kriv, we hear that your apprentice here needs to find a book. Care to tell us some stuff about the book?" Wella cheerfully asked.

"Well, my old friend Lymore has the book with him, and last time I heard of him, he's been living as a hermit in the Shark's Jaw. That's all I'll tell you," Kriv said.

"Thanks Mister Kriv," Wella happily said. "Come on, Dirk, get up. No time to nap. Let's go get some early dinner at the tavern."

Dirk struggled to get up, but had to eventually just be set upright by Kriv's magic. He swore that he would not let Kriv get away with triggering all those traps on him. He watched as Erevan had some last words with his master.

"So, Master, would we be able to stay here tonight? We're leaving tomorrow morning to finally start looking for the book, and kind of need a place to stay," Erevan was saying.

"Hm, alright. I don't have a use for your room yet, and Valna's room is also open. That Goliath though, he will have to sleep on the floor," Kriv said.

"Sounds fine to me. Thank you, Master," Erevan said, giving a bow.

Now that that was out of the way, the quartet set out for the tavern. Entering into it, they found that their table from before was occupied by two soldiers from the local barracks. Dirk told his fellow adventurers, "Let me handle this."

He walked over to the table and put his hands on the table, saying, "This is our table, gents. Please, how about you move?"

"No, I don't think so, big guy. We took this table, we're keeping it. Go bother someone else," one soldier said, a Sargent.

Keira tried to convince them to leave, "Good sirs, there are plenty of other good tables here. My friend here tends of get a little mad when he doesn't sit in the corner table, so would you please move to that table?" She pointed to the table she and Wella had been sitting at, which was currently empty.

"I said no. We aren't moving," the Sargent said.

A new voice said, "Hey now, that's not nice. I really think you ought to move, or else I'll start trimming some of you down a little. Now, leave this table or else..." Wella growled scarily.

"Ah, one of those rabid Halflings! The Captain was warning us about those. Run, for your life, they can kill with no warning," Sargent yelped, running in fear. He did stop to pay for his drink before running all the way out. His companion followed suit.

"Well done, Wella. For that, dinner's on me," Dirk said.

"Thanks, big guy," a happy Wella said.

Though Erevan did not like taverns, he enjoyed dinner. He gave his ale to Wella, still unwilling to drink anything alcoholic except Elven wine. The others also had a good dinner.

During dinner, Dirk asked, "So, Joe,"

"It's Erevan!" Erevan exclaimed, frustrated that Dirk kept intentionally "forgetting" his name.

"Joe, how long have you lived here?" Dirk finished.

Before answering, Erevan used Prestidigitation to do three things. First, he turned Dirk's goblet of ale invisible, so that the ale appeared to be floating. He then turned Dirk's fork invisible, and then did the same to his soup bowl. He then said, "I've served under Master Kriv for fourteen years, the same amount of time I've lived here.

Dirk didn't really care that Erevan had turned his stuff invisible. He just started eating the main course with his fingers, drank his soup by grabbing at the edges, and left his ale alone for now. He had had his fun with Erevan, he found it gratifying to mess with the young wizard.

Various other conversations occurred during dinner, during which Wella shared her history, and Keira gave an overview, nothing specific. She did reveal that her father was a rather important Warlord of his island, though.

Now that dinner was over, and night was descending upon the island, all four left the tavern, Dirk rather sadly, as he had not been able to start a bar fight. Erevan lead them to the library, which was where they had agreed to visit before turning in for the night. Pushing the others away from the hidden panels, he entered the combination. With the proper code in, the door opened without the trap going off. Erevan then walked in, greeting the librarian, "Hello, madam. I'm just here to pick up a few rituals, and the others will just read, maybe even check out."

"Very well, just remember our policy, you can't check out rituals beyond your casting potential."

"I will, don't worry."

Spreading out, Dirk and Wella found a small cranny with some odd books. Dirk picked out two books, _A Comparative Evaluation of Lances and Scimitars _and _The Skeletal System of the Cyclops._ Because the _Comparative Evaluation_ didn't have fun pictures, Dirk gave that one to Wella to hold on to. He kept _The Skeletal System of the Cyclops_ for himself, as it had some cool pictures to look at. If anything, he could look at it when board.

Keira was sitting by herself, reading about tactics. Though she preferred to lead through inspiration and powerful ideals, it didn't hurt to read up on tactical strategies. For one thing, she had never known that flanking an enemy made it so that your attacks were much more accurate. You learn something new every day.

Erevan found two interesting rituals, the _Magic Mouth_ and _Comprehend Language_. Both were at his casting level, and had interesting effects. He also picked up _A Catalog of Improved Necromancy_ to learn how to best destroy a skeleton. That was the odd thing about all these books, they tell how to best prevent the weak points from being struck, but in doing so, would tell your enemies the best ways to attack. These sorts of things kept Erevan up sometimes.

Setting out from the library after checking out the books, the group went back to the tower. Erevan told them the accommodations, and then told Keira and Wella secretly about which places were trapped. He figured Dirk deserved to trigger the traps for all the times he had annoyed him. With everyone in agreement about where they would be sleeping, everyone got into their beds/bedrolls and thus, slept for eight hours or tranced for four.

**The Next Morning:**

Everyone was rather rudely awakened by Kriv recalibrating the traps. The way he did so was to trigger the traps all at once, setting off a loud cacophony of noise. Erevan, the most used to this, climbed out of bed in time to avoid the exploding pillow. Wella and Keira were not quite as prepared, and had each of their pillows explode from underneath them. Walking down the stairs, Erevan jumped the trapped stairs just in time to see Dirk's armored boot coming down on a scorpion.

"NO! Don't!" he yelled, to no avail. Dirk's boot crushed Kriv's poor, rare familiar, Merkur. Rushing over and shoving Dirk away with some magic, Erevan knelt down and checked the familiar for life signs. The poor thing was about dead, and all from some stupid fighter who he had invited.

Standing up with Merkur in his arms, Erevan told Dirk, "You idiot! You crushed my master's familiar."

"Not my problem. It was crawling over me, so why shouldn't I have crushed it?" Dirk told the much smaller wizard.

"Uh, because if my master finds out, you will suffer from a Stinking Cloud for the next week or so?"

"Oh, uh... why don't you take him to the temple to be raised?" Dirk asked nervously.

"Already on it, Erevan said, leaving the tower in a run. He ran to the local town of Corelon and begged the priest there, "Sir, sir. You own my master many favors. Please, raise his familiar before he finds out that it has died."

"Certainly, young one," the Elf told him. "We all remember the time Valna accidentally killed Merkur. We don't need a Stinking Cloud over the whole town again." And with that, the priest pored a potion down the scorpion's mouth, healing and raising the crushed scorpion. Erevan then told him, "Never let Master Kriv know, actually, let him know once we're long gone, okay?"

Nodding as best as a scorpion could, Merkur scurried back to the tower. Erevan then walked back to the tower. Entering in, he saw the other three all ready to leave. Dirk had obviously told them about what had happened and they wanted to be gone from all the traps soon. They walked to the the north gate, where they saw the man from yesterday talking with the Elven guards.

"Ah, here are my people. Good to see you. The fish are in the cart and are ready to go. Good luck," he told them, leaving for his home.

"Well, shall we?" Dirk asked, picking up the cart.

"Yep, let's," Keira said, leading the new party out towards Mivatar, Erevan serving as the guide.

* * *

_Sorry about the long wait. I just had some trouble remembering the events mostly. So anyways. Let me know if you like the longer wait, but longer chapters, or if I should go back to the old way._

_Also, let me know what you think of the characters._

_You know what, just let me know your thoughts in general about the fic._


End file.
